brewersfandomcom-20200213-history
Robin Yount
Robin R. Yount (born September 16, 1955) is a former Major League Baseball player who spent his entire career with the Milwaukee Brewers 1974-1993. In 1999, Yount was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Baseball career Yount was the third pick overall in the June 1973 Major League Baseball Draft, one slot ahead of fellow Hall of Famer and 3,000 Hit Club member Dave Winfield. Yount made his major league debut the following April, at 18 years old. After going hitless in his first four games, Yount hit a game-winning home run in his sixth. On September 14, 1975, he broke Mel Ott's 47-year-old record for most games played in the major leagues as a teenager. Yount courted controversy in the winter of 1978. He threatened to retire from the game and take up professional golf rather than be underpaid by the Brewers. His demands were met during spring training in 1978, and he played the full season; ultimately, Yount remained a Brewer for the rest of his 20-year career. Yount developed into a better-than-average hitter, eventually posting a career .285 batting average). He was an early proponent of weight training – then uncommon in baseball – and by 1980 Yount's power hitting had improved, particularly for a shortstop. Yount was an All-Star in 1980, 1982, and 1983, and no other Brewer was voted a starter in consecutive years until Ryan Braun in 2008-09.Wagner, Andrew, "Meet them in St. Louis: Fielder, Braun are All-Stars," OnMilwaukee.com, 7/5/09, accessed 7/5/09 His three All-Star appearances are tied with Ferguson Jenkins for the fewest of any Hall of Famer from the post-All-Star Game era. Yount collected more hits in the decade of the 1980s than any other player (1731), leading the American League with 210 hits in 1982. The 1982 AL East race was tied on the final day of the season, with the race coming down to a winner-take-all game between the Brewers and the Baltimore Orioles. With the title on the line, Yount hit home runs in each of his first two at-bats against Orioles starter Jim Palmer. Yount finished with a 4-hit game, as the Brewers won 10-2. In addition to his only 200-hit season, he registered career highs with 29 home runs, 114 RBI, and a .331 batting average (.001 behind the league leader, Willie Wilson). That year, Yount also won his only Gold Glove Award. 1982 was his finest statistical season, and earned Yount his first Most Valuable Player Award by a unanimous vote. The year ended with the Brewers making their only World Series appearance. Although Yount became the only player to collect four hits in two World Series games, Milwaukee lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. In 1985, a shoulder problem forced Yount to move to the outfield. After splitting time between center field and left field, Yount became the Brewers' regular center fielder in 1986. He played more than 1,200 games in the outfield in his career, with a .990 fielding percentage. Yount's most memorable defensive moment was surely a game-ending, diving catch to preserve a no-hitter by Juan Nieves early in the 1987 season. Yount the outfielder narrowly won a second MVP Award in 1989, making him only the third player to win MVPs at two positions, joining Hank Greenberg and Stan Musial (Alex Rodriguez would later join this group). Yount was the first AL player to win multiple MVP's in over a quarter century, since the Yankees' Roger Maris (1960 & 1961) and Mickey Mantle (1956, 1957, and 1962). On Sept. 9, 1992, Yount collected his 3,000th career hit, becoming the 17th player to reach the mark. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999, his first year of eligibility. That same year, he was included in the balloting for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, finishing fifth among shortstops.http://www.baseball-almanac.com/legendary/limc100.shtml Yount holds the Brewers' career records for games, at-bats, runs, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, RBIs, total bases, walks and strikeouts. He was the last active major leaguer who was a teammate of Hank Aaron (1975–1976). His brother Larry had one of the oddest, and shortest careers in major league history. While taking his warmup tosses for his debut as a Houston Astros reliever in 1971, he experienced elbow pain.http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/HOU/HOU197109150.shtml He never threw an official pitch in that game, or any other. The brothers both graduated from William Howard Taft High School in . Post-playing career Yount served as first base coach and bench coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2002 to 2004. He resigned after the dismissal of Arizona manager Bob Brenly. He, Hank Aaron, Warren Spahn and Bob Uecker threw out the ceremonial first pitches at the 2002 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Miller Park. In 2005, Brewers manager Ned Yost convinced Dale Sveum, a teammate of Yount's, to become Milwaukee's new third base coach. Yount followed suit a few weeks later, accepting a post as the Brewers' bench coach. In November 2006, Yount announced he would not return to the team as bench coach for the 2007 season. However, on September 15, 2008, Dale Sveum, by now the team's manager, chose Yount as his bench coach. In June 2008, Yount announced the creation of a new lemonade drink, Robinade. A portion of the proceeds of the sales goes to charity. References External links * Category:Milwaukee Brewers players Category:Milwaukee Brewers coaches